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Archive
December 20th
Mortgage Refinancing For Home Improvements
Sun, 12/20/2009 - 09:33As we all know, improvements and modifications to your home can be quite costly. If you’ve been wanting to improve your home but don’t have the money to pay for it, a refinance mortgage may be your financial answer. For those unfamiliar, mortgage refinancing is the process in which an existing mortgage is replaced with a new mortgage loan. The following are a couple suggestions that you might want to consider if looking towards refinancing as a means of funding your home improvements:
December 9th
DIY Home Decor
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 09:12The chances are that there is not much to make your dorm or apartment to make the space feel like your own when you're young. That is especially true if you want to do alternative, really interesting, things, and don't have a ton of money. Does this mean you're bound to live with ugly furniture and bare white walls furniture? Of course not. Here are a few design tips for the do it yourself inclined.
Color and ambiance: Dorm rooms and most apartments come with boring, standard-issue white walls. If you want to add some color without much hassle try Christmas lights. Surely, by losing these lights, there is no easier way to change the feel, look, and color of a room. To hang them you simply just tack them up around the border of your room's ceiling. If you put all red lights up your room will appear to have a red hue to it. Another alternative is to put up more than one color and choose which set to plug in. Green today and blue tomorrow, for example. It's affordable and simple. You can switch the bulbs in some of your lamps to colored "party bulbs" and you can further add to the effect. This is a perfect choice since so many kids like to have ambient lighting. Plain white Christmas lights can also change the look of a room, without providing too much light.
Floors: Do you have boring floors with ugly tiles or nasty carpet? Not a problem. Although buying an area rug can be expensive, many stores sell affordable, large, bath mats which may be used as smaller area rugs. Although it may sound strange there are plenty of stylish, large, bathmats from which to choose, including ones made of fake fur. In addition, they tend to be easier to clean than an area rug if they get wet and are meant to be slip proof. Further, you can easily buy and cut what is known as remnant carpet to either make their own area rugs or to carpet smaller rooms. The whole idea is to be creative.
Futons: If you have inherited an old futon that is less than perfect for your decor there is something you can do about that as well. For significantly less money than the cost of a futon cover, you can find bed sheets that will serve nicely as a futon cover. At many stores, in a mall for example, one can find all kinds of things, like Night Before Christmas sheets. Even in the kids' sections of regular stores, there are plenty of interesting and useful things. Halloween is a great time to look for things like pumpkins and spider webs. Valentine's day is great for hearts. Use your imagination and be creative. For example, an affordable way to personalize your futons is with throw blankets which are made of fleece and usually cheap. You can also usually find complimentary pillows for affordable prices (along with matching pillowcases of your choice) at major discount stores.
Kitchens: Don't forget craft stores. You can find all kinds of things cheap and ready to customize at almost any craft store. Containers, jars and storage tins can be customized to hold anything from spatulas to spoons to napkins to food items. Craft stores, as well as major discount stores usually have affordable towels and the holidays are a great time to stock up on your favorites. You can also customize craft foam to make kitchen (or dining room) place mats.
Furniture: While you're at the craft store, you may notice some boring, unpainted wooden furniture. You may find a thrift store with some functional but hideous looking furniture. The easiest solution is paint. Simply buy some paint and sealant (the sealant is important as it will protect the paint) and color the furniture such that it suits your personality and needs. You can paint your do it yourself furniture with a brush, or you may want to try different techniques, such as sponges or stencils, to get multiple hues and different effects.
General supplies: If you are going to get into alternative home design, it is important to have some basic supplies: In case something spills, it is always good to have a bucket and strong cleaner on hand. An inexpensive drop cloth is also a good idea if you're painting furniture or other items.You can use shower curtain liner or a cheap plastic table cloth for this. It is necessary to have pencils are good as they are good for jotting down measurements, marking tack holes or sketching out designs. A sharp utility blade and scissors should also be in your bare basics kit, as should glue and a hot glue gun. They are great for decorating, especially if you will be adding things like stones or jewels to items (such a canisters or plain storage boxes). They can also be used for small repairs on wooden items.
In the end, when it comes to having an alternative looking dorm or apartment, without spending money, the trick is to look to be creative. There is really no limit to what you can do once you tap into your creativity.
Affordable Home Decor
Wed, 12/09/2009 - 09:04Great Inexpensive Decors
Making your house look like a really beautiful property is one of the greatest challenges of optimizing your real estate dollars. It is really difficult when you are competing with new homes in your market. However, you only need to develop a few skills in order to give your home the great custom look that very expensive homes have. Great drapes are only one sewing class away. Re upholstery of some classic old furniture is only an electric staple gun away. You can give your Victorian house an authentically decorated ceiling with some wallpaper. You can take your house from boring to exciting with some great trim work. A little paint and some landscaping can turn your house into an Italian villa. You can make a custom cushion for a window seat. All these things and more are than possible. If you hire someone to do them for you any of these things can be very expensive. However, they are not difficult to accomplish yourself.
Most drapery making is far easier than sewing clothing since it is simply sewing straight seams. The disadvantage of ready made curtains is that they are usually unlined and skimpy. They never look as good as custom made window treatments. The really great ones have, a flannel inner lining, another lining on the back, and fashion fabric which means three layers of luxury. Side panels that are 36 to 54 inches wide and gathered on a rod and upholstered top treatments will get you by nicely. Anything narrower looks cheap. Fuller panels are necessary if you have tall windows and want them to look really good. Your window treatments should also leave the glass completely exposed when open and need to hang from the crown molding (at the ceiling) to the floor. Therefore, your top treatment should reach from your crown molding to the glass at the top of your window and need to be as wide as the glass and the side panels. If you have very high ceilings, this is especially important. You should have these types of window treatments in rooms that need elegance and privacy like master bedrooms, some family rooms, and living rooms. Do not wrap fabric around a curtain rod. It looks amateurish when compared to professional window treatments. If you look around you might find one second hand or you can do the job yourself with a decent sewing machine.
Upholstering furniture is only a sewing machine away as well. Using a piece of the old cover, you can cut a pattern for upholstering a piece of furniture. You simply need to buy some new material and padding. After you obtain the material of your choice, new upholstery for your dining chairs, or some you find second hand, are just a staple gun away. An upholstered headboard is simply a class away and not that difficult without the class. Best of all it can be just the style you want.
If your bathroom is smelly and moldy, classes in tiling are offered at most building supply stores. You can also make custom made shower curtains for you bath.
Then there's your furniture. Contrary to popular belief furniture does matter even though you are not selling it with the house because potential buyers will always notice and comment on your clutter, your dirt, and most of all, your furniture. There are classes to show you how to clean up and make it look great.
Fabric can enhance any style. Media rooms can be upholstered for improved sound quality, doors and arch ways can be draped, lamp shades can be recovered, and beds can be made to look like luxuriously draped four posters. A combination of paint and/or wallpaper, trim, and beams can make a ceiling a special feature and cost much less than you think. There are endless possibilities for masonry and walls for a good do it yourself person with a little imagination. Creativity maximizes your real estate investment. Without paying big money for it you can have a great looking property. Avoid overdoing craft projects and keep it elegant. Most people can paint skillfully with a little preparation and practice. Keep it basic but try for contrasting colors on trim and walls both inside and out. Many buyers are turned off by over done paint treatments. Elegantly neutral is great for resale. Give potential buyers a house that fulfills their dreams and learn some new things in the process.
